Oconeean duped by a sweepstakes scammer

A phone caller recently told an Oconee County resident she had won a $1.6 million sweepstakes.  But the caller was a scammer and posed as a representative of the Publishers Clearing House.  All she had to do, the caller said, was follow instructions on how to claim the award.  She was asked to pay taxes on her winnings and then arranged to transfer money to an address in California.  She got another call, wanting more money.  That’s when she got suspicious and contacted Publishers Clearing House and found out she had been scammed.  The Oconee Sheriff’s Office and the victim’s bank opened an investigation.  Federal authorities also are involved. “Once money is lost in a scam, it is virtually impossible to recover funds that are lost,” says PIO Jimmy Watt.  “And that is regardless of the scam.  After doing a little bit of research, I discovered a few items for citizens to be aware of when it comes to these sweepstakes scams:

 

·    If you are asked to send money in order to claim a sweepstakes prize or someone contacts you over the phone, saying they are from a sweepstakes company, notifying you that you have won or regarding your prize, it is a scam.  By calling a number back that is tied to a scam, you could set yourself up for future scams.  You can always Google a number to see if a number has been tied to a scam.

·    Always be wary of anyone who asks you to pay any fees on a prepaid card.  Legitimate businesses and organizations do not require any payments using prepaid cards.

·    Never provide any type of personal or financial information to anyone you do not know, such as social security numbers or account or routing numbers.

·    Bear in mind that most if not all the time, you have to enter a sweepstakes in order to win one.  Be wary of receiving a correspondence via the telephone, text messages, social media or e-mail notifications (for major prizes) or letters delivered by regular mail.